Take a Chance
by CSIBeauty
Summary: When Neal tells Emma that he wants to get back together, Emma gets some surprising advice from Killian, suggesting she may never be happy if she doesn't take a chance. Emma thinks about taking that advice and realizes who she really wants to take a chance on. One Shot. Captain Swan


It had been about a week since Neal showed up in Storybrooke looking for Emma, something that she wasn't really happy about. After abandoning her so many years ago, he now decided to seek her out and tell her he was sorry. Emma didn't want to hear it and she didn't want him to know anything about Henry. That was really her biggest fear. She had already lied to her son about what really happened to his father and the last thing she wanted was Neal to come in and ruin the relationship she herself had a hard time building. It wasn't like her to let people in and she feared what would happen if the one person she let through her walls knew that she lied to him. Henry was a smart kid, but he was still young and she couldn't be sure that he would understand why she lied.

At the very least she had agreed to have lunch with Neal to talk. He explained everything related to why he left. Even though she still hated him for it, she did believe that at the time he thought it was best for her. That didn't change that it hurt her and she had closed off the rest of the world around her because of it. Still, even though she was mad at him, she could see that it had hurt him to some extent too. After the lunch she had told him that she would think about everything he said. He wanted to give them another chance. She wasn't sure that was a good idea. She had been hurt by him once already and if it ever happened again she would kick herself for believing he could change. That didn't change the fact that she had loved him once, but she wasn't sure if those feelings were truly still there.

Emma had found herself walking through the woods thinking. She did that often when she wanted to avoid running into anyone or answering any questions. When she was upset she wasn't always the best at hiding it and the citizens of Storybrooke always wanted to help her. Though she appreciated the thoughtfulness, she spent most of her life dealing with her issues on her own and that was still her preference. When she made her way towards the toll bridge she was surprised to see someone else already sitting there looking into the woods intently. As she approached she realized it was Killian.

"Hook?" she asked. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Hello, love," he replied. "What brings you here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she replied sitting down next to him.

"I'm thinking," he replied simply. "Is that a crime now?"

"No," Emma replied. "Though somehow I pegged you as the type of man who would be staring out into the sea, not the woods."

"Too right you are, love," Killian replied with a smirk. "However the docks are currently occupied by a few dwarfs who are attempting to fix one of the boats that reside there, so I find myself in need of another location to think. I stumbled upon this little spot while walking through the woods. You never told me why you were here, lass."

"Same reason you are," Emma replied. "To think."

"What's troubling you, love?" he asked. He actually seemed genuinely interested and at the moment he was the only person to talk to and anyone else she could think of would take more explaining than she was willing to do.

"The man I told you I loved once," Emma explained. "The one who hurt me. He's back in town and wants to apologize. He says he wants to give us another chance and that what he did wasn't meant to hurt me. He says he was trying to do what was best for me at the time."

"You are good at detecting lies," he stated. "Do you believe him?"

"I believe that he didn't want to hurt me," Emma stated. "I believe that maybe he thought he was doing me a favor, but that doesn't change the fact that it did hurt."

"Sometimes people do things that are not meant to hurt others," Killian explained. "And in the moment they don't always think about the long term effects those decisions can have on other people. Does that mean they were wrong? Many people do things with good intentions and they turn out to hurt people they never meant to hurt. Look what happened with Milah."

"But you loved her," Emma pointed out.

"Aye, I did," he replied. "And she died for it. I decided that I've spent far too much time dwelling on the past. I've never given myself the opportunity to move on. All of our actions can have an unintended effect on multiple people and maybe I'm not willing to live with that adverse effect this time."

"You're giving up on your revenge?" Emma asked, bewildered. The man had always been so obsessed with killing Gold she never thought anything would convince him to stop his plan.

"Yes," he replied. "People can change if there is something there to give them a reason to. That includes your past love. When you come down to it you have to ask yourself if what you are doing is helping you or costing you a chance at happiness."

"What exactly are you saying?" Emma asked, bewildered by his words.

"I'm saying, take a chance, Emma," Killian replied, standing up. "You may find that people can surprise you. Did you ever stop to think that your true love could be standing right in front of you and the only thing stopping you from getting your happy ending is your inability to take a chance on someone?"

She looked at him in amazement. He was the last person she would have thought would give her advice about pursuing true love. She had never believed in it despite who she was and he had lost his a long time ago.

"You're past love, could end up being more than that," he added, before walking back down the road.

Emma sat and watched as he walked away. She had been thinking about whether or not she should give Neal another chance. At one time she did love him and she honestly wasn't sure if those feeling were still there or not. Maybe Killian was right about needing to take a chance. Though, she wasn't sure if she would ever have true love in her life, if she never took any chances, then she would never find out. Every time someone had shown any interest in her she would over think it and it ended in disaster. This time she wasn't willing to do that.

Emma found her way to Granny's Bed and Breakfast pretty quickly. She knew Neal had a room there and she needed to know if there truly was anything left between them. Though she was still hurt by what he did, she wanted to give him a chance. She knocked on the door to his room and waiting. When he opened the door he seemed surprised to see Emma standing there.

"What are you doing here, Emma?" Neal asked.

"I need to know something," Emma replied, leaning in to kiss him on the lips. Neal wrapped his arms around her leaning into her touch. She remembered how it felt to kiss Neal, but something changed. This time when she kissed him, she felt nothing. There was no amount of love that she had felt when they were first together. When she pulled back, Neal looked confused.

"There's nothing there anymore is there?" he asked.

"No," she replied simply, shaking her head.

"Thank you," Neal replied.

This time Emma was confused. "For what?"

"For trying," he said with a smile. She smiled back.

"I honestly wasn't going to," Emma admitted.

He gave her a questioning look. "Then why did you?"

"Someone gave me some advice," she stated. Thinking about Killian's words again. "I keep refusing to let people in, but he's made me realize that I need to give people a chance instead of pushing them away or I might never be happy. I have to go."

"Alright," said Neal as Emma turned away from him.

"Hey," he shouted back at her before she made it to the stairs. She turned around to face him. "Whoever this guy is, I hope he makes you happy."

Emma smiled before heading out of the Inn and walking down to the docks. She could kick herself for not realizing it before. Killian had basically told her to her face that he was willing to give up his revenge for her. At least now that she thought about it, that's what she believed he meant. _Did you ever stop to think that your true love could be standing right in front of you and the only thing stopping you from getting your happy ending is your inability to take a chance on someone?_ Those words kept repeating in her head. What if she was about to walk away from her true love? She never believed in it before, but that didn't mean that it wasn't out there for her. She felt like she couldn't take the chance on him at the top of the beanstalk and she didn't want to make that mistake again.

Finding the invisible gangplank that lead to the Jolly Roger wasn't as hard as she expected it to be since she nearly tripped over it when she walked aboard the docks. Whatever, group of people were there early appeared to have dispersed so there was nobody there and Emma hoped that Killian ended up making it back to his ship. She boarded the ship and was amazed at what she saw. She had never been aboard the ship before and she honestly didn't know what she expected. It was beautiful and she noticed it almost had a magical glow to it.

"Emma?" A voice pulled her from her thoughts. She looked up to see Killian standing at the door that she assumed lead below deck. "What are you doing here, love?"

"I took your advice," she said walking over to him. "I decided to see if there was anything still there between me and Neal."

"And how did that work out?" he asked, shifting his weight.

"I kissed him," she answered. "But I didn't feel anything. I did once, but whatever was there is gone now."

"I see," said Killian. "That didn't really answer my question though, love. What are you doing here?"

"Killian, if you thought your chance at happiness was standing right in front of you, would you take it?" she asked.

He appeared to be taken aback by the question. That or the fact that it was the first time she had ever used his real name, either way he appeared to have a hard time finding his words. That was a first. Since Emma had known him, he wasn't the type to have difficulty responding to anything.

"I . . . I would," he finally replied. "I've spent most of my life unhappy and broken."

"So have I," Emma replied taking a few more steps toward him. "I don't want to be like that anymore. I'm tired of pushing everyone away and refusing to let people in."

"What are you saying, Emma?" Killian asked.

Emma gave him a mischievous grin as she pushed him back against the door. "Now I think it was time that I take a chance . . . on you."

With that she crashed her lips to his, surprised by the sudden jolt of electricity that shot through her as soon as their lips touched. His hand had found its way to her hair as he pulled her closer ghosting his tongue against her lips asking for permission to deepen the kiss. She moved her hands up behind his neck tugging on his hair as she gave him access to her mouth. Her entire body felt like it was on fire. Every place he touched felt like electricity and she knew that this is what true loves kiss felt like. After several moments they pulled apart gasping for air. She rested her forehead against his stroking the side of his face as she leaned in to place another quick kiss to his lips, sending yet another shock through her. She giggled at the feeling and noticed him give her a truly happy smile she had never seen on him before.

She smiled back before speaking, still breathless from the kiss. "I guess my true love was standing in front of me this whole time."


End file.
